350Z at Eastern Creek - Motor Feb '05

864 Views 8 Replies 5 Participants Last post by scathing, Feb 10, 2005

davidm

Discussion Starter · Jan 12, 2005

Today I picked up the new issue of Motor (ie. February) and it has a nice article about their 350Z long-termer at Eastern Creek. I'm sure I mentioned the times and occasion a few months ago, but now they have an actual little write up.

Dean Evans was driving and the car was 100% stock (and on OME tyres) and he managed 1:54.96 there. While doing so they were seeing 200kph on the main straight. How does that compare to anyone who's been there ... I know that the lap-time would be very hard to match, but what about the top speed?

ps. They finaly discovered how much the stock 350Z understeers ... you really notice it on the track. I'm surprised that they have not noticed itwhen they had one at Wakefield or Winton?

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scathing

· #2 · Jan 12, 2005

200km/hr sounds about right.

The highest I've pulled on the digital speedo, with the windows up and the mirrors folded in, is around 202km/hr in stock form. I could have braked a little later and maybe squeezed 1-2km/hr more out of it, but given what happened to Todd Wilkes I decided not to.

That time really separates the good drivers from us average Joes. I couldn't dream of making up my 5 second deficit to catch Dean Evans, and having met Merrick at the last L2S practice day at EC I didn't know I was 10 seconds slower than he was!

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nizmo pete

· #3 · Jan 12, 2005

Dean Evans Is probably the best driver out there that makes his living as a motoring journalist.
A few seasons back he was the Mirage Cup national champion.
The big difference between the pro drivers & amatures is how they attack the the ripple strips & curbs & it also helps when your driving someone elses car without the worry.
I was privalaged to drive in the 1st 5 Targa Tasmania's 4 times in my own car & once as a Factory driver, guess which one I wrote off ?

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Duncan

· #4 · Feb 9, 2005

Yeah I made 1.57 in our convertible on falken st115s which are pretty average. 200 is about right on the speedo but was more like 190 when we checked it to the gps.

But I have to agree, the understeer is horrible, plenty of left foot braking required to keep to the right line, esp in turns 2 and 9.

As a result the brakes take a real hammering, and were literally smoking after 3 laps

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davidm

Discussion Starter · #5 · Feb 9, 2005

Yeah I made 1.57 in our convertible on falken st115s which are pretty average.

Hey Duncan, are you saying that you did 1:57 in a 350Z Roadster on road tyres? That's pretty good IMHO, as there are not many 100% cars with 'Sunday racer' drivers doing those times. 1:57s are very good IMHO.

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Duncan

· #6 · Feb 9, 2005

Yeah I was pretty happy with 1.57, I thought that was close to the limit of what it could do, maybe 1 more second for a perfect lap but the brakes just are not up to practicing

But the 1.55 that Dean acheived is pretty amazing, are the track coupes really that much faster? was it on cheater tyres or just road ones?

As comparison, the R33 skyline gtst I used to drive there got down to 1.52 on r tyres, and 1.56 on road tyres

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db350z

· #7 · Feb 9, 2005

nope it's a road Tyres until they busted it. The track have a Brembo brakes, that's why he could get a better time and i think The Roadster don't have Brembo option.

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davidm

Discussion Starter · #8 · Feb 9, 2005

But the 1.55 that Dean acheived is pretty amazing, are the track coupes really that much faster? was it on cheater tyres or just road ones?

That's on the OME Bridgestone RE040 that the car came with. Also that time was achieved with a leaking rear tyre which had a nail in it. They think that they could have shaved more time if they did not get the puncture and got a bit more track time ... they only did 3 sessions with the Zed.

Also why so mach faster? First place I'd look at would be the nutter behind the wheel ;-) Dean Evans is a pro level driver and those guys are always very guick no matter what they drive.

Though, if nothing else the Coupe is around 100kg lighter that than the Roadster and also has better body ridgidity. I can't put a figure on how much that is worth, but it will certainly show at the track. I know that having a 100kg passanger in my car slows me down by a good 1 - 1.5sec per lap alone.

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scathing

· #9 · Feb 10, 2005

It'll be the driver for sure. Dean Evans has raced several cars, constantly jumps in and out of different types of cars and thrashes the **** out of them, etc for fun and profit and so he's more familiar with driving a car at the limit than most of us that sit behind a desk all day.

The first time I went to Wakefield Park I let my friend drive my car. After half a day of me pedalling it around and learning the lines and how the car handles on the track, I pulled a 1.19.xx.

I put my friend in the car, who races HQ Holdens and Formula Fords and uses Wakefield as his testing ground, who on overheated (and thus extremely greasy) tyres managed to pull a 1.18.xx on his second lap (so his first flying lap).

Had I given him tyres that weren't shagged (I'd done a few laps with him in the car and pitted in to give him a go, so he were on tyres that had copped me trying to show off to him with something to prove) and an entire 15 minute session, he probably would be lapping where I am now after all my mods.

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